Pages

Saturday, 31 March 2012

I had the opportunity to interview Tabitha who runs one of my favourite feminist blogs grrrlstudies. It's in q and a format as it's in for my uni research opposed to like a serious editorial. However, I don't think it matters too much as her answers are wonderful.

Why did you set up Grrrl Studies?

i had been blogging for a while, and i kept on wanting to post feminist stuff on my regular, 'personal' blog, and then i decided to start my own one just to create my own feminist space. i had just started university and studying gender studies and sociology had inspired me hugely, hence the title grrrlstudies.

How important do you feel pop culture is in contemporary feminist discourse?

i feel like it is massively important, as it is so pervasive in everyday life, and bombards us with gender stereotypical images and messages that lead to such warped views of what masculinity and femininity should be. it definitely creates an image of what is 'right' and 'normal' and then creates a barrier between people who reside in that 'normal' space and the people who don't, and this can be really damaging! basically yeah pop culture should be a really important part in contemporary feminist discourse. it completely surrounds us.

What led you to identify as a feminist?

a few things did. i would say my greater influences would have been my two english teachers in my final years in high school, ensuring that i studied jane eyre, sylvia plath, the wife of bath, the stepford wives and a room of one's own, which changed my way of thinking completely. i was already quite interested in social justice, i just didn't have the knowledge to back it up, or the breadth of critical thinking, which i am still developing right now - but yeah, i think that i identified as a feminist because it made sense to uphold women's rights. my family, in particular my paternal grandmother was a very active feminist in the seventies and eighties in nicaragua and that has influenced me a lot as well.

Do you feel that teenage girls are becoming more vocal in contemporary

feminist dialogues?

i think since the riot grrrl movement there has been a lot more room for feminism in youth culture. whether or not teenage girls are actually becoming more vocal is a bigger question though… while the slutwalks and other recent activism has seen a lot of teenage girls supporting feminism, i'm not sure whether any fresh opinions are being expressed or whether it's the same messages being rehashed. it's good that young girls can find a place in feminism, definitely. but i think there is still a lot of weight from the past on us, and also the way things have changed in terms of technology and communication has altered the way we can express ourselves as feminists. one young girl who has definitely shown herself to be an admirable young feminist is tavi gevinson (rookie lass). i like how the internet has democratised speech to a certain extent, it's a lot easier to find listeners.

Are there any particular blogs on feminism and gender identity that influence

Do you feel there is a relationship between gender identity and pop culture?

absolutely, just because pop culture presents an image of what is right (cis genders, stereotypes) and then pushes away anything else to the realm of 'unacceptable'. pop culture products that portrays identities other than cismale/cisfemale are few and far between.

How do you see the position of the ‘girl’ in Western contemporary society? Is it

shifting?

i think that if you read the chapter 'the girl' in simone de beauvoir's the second sex, 'the girl', it is largely still true, in how girls alter themselves when they become aware of the expectations society has for them.

there are a lot more enlightened parents than there were fifty years ago, but there are also more pressures in terms of 'having everything' and perfectionistic standards placed upon girls. statistically speaking, things are shifting gender-wise in levels of education and career, but that won't necessarily alter the deeply ingrained beliefs about what being a girl means, and how other people treat you, as a girl. for it to shift there needs to be an ideological shift towards viewing women as actually equal to men and as people.

How important do you feel cinema is in the construction of gender identity?

very important! cinema is as important as any other form of cultural production, especially in its very visual and symbolic language. films can definitely shape what people perceive to be correct gender roles and expectations (and thus identity), a really simple example is disney films, and how they shape the identities of girls and boys through the portrayals of their male and female protagonists.

Do you feel there are any feminist icons in pop culture (fictitious or

otherwise)? Is so can you give any examples?

feminist icons in pop culture for me would be daria (without a doubt), princess mononoke (of the ghibli film), sailor moon, and perhaps even miss piggy?

Is there any particular feminist writers that influence and inspire your blog?

i was originally super inspired by virginia woolf, but also now bell hooks and her mentality of 'feminism is for everybody' - i try really hard not to exclude people with my blog, by both trying to empathise with people whose experiences i am not familiar with, and by not alienating people new to feminism by making my blog lighthearted as well as honest. i have a firm belief that while it should be taken seriously, feminism should be a lot of fun as well.

So much of my research and work for uni seems to be exploring the position of the girl as an internalised malady. Yet, with the Ardorous and Rookie and Meadham Kirchoff, and just teen tumblr culture in general, it makes me question whether there's all that much actually left to explore in my own work. I mean for critical writing and curatorial practice there definitely is, but for my own actual aesthetics and art work I'm not so sure. I don't mean that it in a bitter way, I love all of things mentioned above, I just feel like I need to approach things from a different angle. This is what led me to start exploring the culture of masculinity, a topic which, self reflexivity wise is actually way more relevant to my own identity. I'm really excited to explore the topic in more detail, but, for no, have a rather far-reaching moodboard type thing.

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

What is the internet? The internet is the culmination of our collective loneliness. It is every Friday Night spent alone magnified, medicalised and broadcasted to millions of people in any number of medium. It is the empty eye socket of outer space, a constant reminder that the world is utterly indifferent to anything you do or say.

Monday, 26 March 2012

I made this art piece this morning and I'm really pleased with it! Britney Spears is just so fascinating, I knew I wanted to use her image for this but I think this photograph of her holding a Barbie develops the idea even further.The text is by Yeats and was quoted in Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, a text that really influenced me in creating this work.

Saturday, 24 March 2012

Nothing marks the dawning of a new season quite like an uncomfortable posed photograph next to a creepy suicidal hot dog in ankle socks. So here you go! It is awkward, like, even for me so that is an achievement in itself. It was taken on a day trip to Weston Super Mare with my grandparents (I never said I was cool you guys.) Weston Super Mare is actually awesome. I reread Ghost World a couple of weeks ago and I was overcome with jealousy at the seventies aesthetics of ghost town suburbia which Enid can interpret in a thousand different beautiful ways. I felt genuinely cheated that there wasn't a British equivalent to play around with! However, now I'm beginning to feel that little seaside towns like Weston and also bigger cities like Blackpool (Blackpool is fantastic I used to go on holiday there when I was little) are worthy equals. I don't mean this is in a snooty way, I find the hipster middle classes ironic consumption of 'low culture' repellent. I really do love these things, my family are from Bermondsey so I feel terribly nostalgic about the culture surrounding the music hall. There is an amaranthine quality to these places, a feeling that your grandparents parents could have gone on holiday there which is just so lovely. There is also a sense of hyperreality to the setting, the impromptu 'All American' aesthetics, the games arcades and so forth. This really influenced me when I was editing my photographs. I was especially thinking of Umberto Eco's Travels in Hyperreality and Jean Baudrillard writing on Disneyland and well Disneyland in general and Angela Carter's Wise Children, particularly Gorgeous George and an elderly Dora and Nora dressed up to the nines and Harry Hill and British Comic Art and Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle and Rieiner Riedler's Fake Holidays series and Nan Goldin and Martin Parr and a thousand other things that I love so dearly yet sound so pretentious and false when written on the internet.

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

I'm aware Christmas is long gone but have only just got round to uploading my photos (because I'm organised like that) and discovered this gem. I took it when I'd just got off my train from London and thought the tinsel round the assaults sign was simply the most fantastic thing I'd seen. The juxtaposition is just so striking. I also like the fact the angel ornament appears to be staring blankly at the sign. In regards to editing I was kind of thinking of Martin Parr's own heavily saturated portraits of the South West, particularly his recent retrospective at M Shed. The corner should perhaps be cropped slightly which I may update later.

Saturday, 10 March 2012

I recently interviewed Caitlyn Rickson of Kerplunk-punk for
my final year project. As it was for specific research opposed to like an
actual magazine my questions are a little on the clunky side (does blah
influence your work, does blah influence your work and so forth.) However, her
answers were so thoughtful and interesting I thought it would be a waste not to
share it. Enjoy :)

Hi Caitlyn, can you describe your work?

My work is my diary. It’s a collaboration of all my phases. The first
time I felt proud of my art was in grade 12. I created some very personal
abstract paintings on a large scale. At the time, I was super into Green Day,
more than usual, because 21st Century
Breakdown released. The paintings included some Green Day lyrics. My work
really depends on my interests. In the summer I was very into Amadeus, making
collages, and Bikini Kill so I made a few summer teen Amadeus witch series.
Winter, I was into Heath Ledger and still am.

Why did you decide to set up your
blog?

I had another blog before kerplunk-punk. I
quit my other one for a few months and started kerplunk-punk in hopes for a new
beginning. The reason I started blogging, was I wanted a place to be creative.
It’s also nice how organized and pretty art, outfit posts, and more can look on
Tumblr and Blogspot.

Which artists influence you and
why?

Arvida (arvidabystrom) is a beautiful artist.
Her gifs, portraits, and intriguing view on the world are precious. I’m very
inspired by her and have even tried a few Arvida gifs. Daniel Johnston has had
an influence on me as well. His quirky doodles and songs mesmerize me every
time. I like his sense of artistic style.

Would you define yourself as a
feminist?

“She’s such a feminist she says she isn’t one
cause goddamn our gender shouldn’t matter” is an accurate description of where
I stand as a feminist. It’s taken from “Your heart is a muscle the size of your
fist” by Ramshackle Glory. I feel I am a feminist because I’m passionate about
standing up for my gender, because my rights as a woman aren’t fully satisfied.
When I moved to a bigger city, creepy chum slums tried to small talk me on the
bus. Guys couldn’t stop staring at my tights. Revolted, I stood up for myself
and felt empowered as a feminist. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m a
feminist because gender shouldn’t matter, but because it does matter and guys
are creeps sometimes I feel empowered as a feminist to stand up for my values.

Has riot grrrl influenced your work?

These last few months yes. I’m intrigued by the riot grrrl movement and how it looks in a collage. Words are powerful, but the imagery is delicate. Any of my riot grrrl work is done on collage, because I feel that’s where it looks best.

Does pop culture influence your
work?

Nearly all my work is influenced by pop
culture. Heath Ledger is a strong example. I’ve created a lot of collages/
shrines, paintings, and drawings of him. I’m also into cartoons and the 90s
grunge scene.

Do you feel there is a relationship
between gender identity and pop culture? If so does this influence your work?

I do feel there is a relationship between
gender identity and pop culture. Maybe the fact that gender identity has been
largely publicised these last few years is the reason why so many are talking
and experiencing it. I think this is brings up an interesting point that pop
culture influences many lives. Personally, I don’t experience a gender identity
problem. I’m happy who I am so I’ve had no work based on this.

You have cited Tavi Gevinson and
her magazine ‘Rookie’ as inspiration in your work. Could you tell me about
this?

If it weren’t for learning about Tavi
Gevinson, I wouldn’t be a blogger. Her presence as a blogger wanted me to be
one myself. It’s a blessing her magazine ‘Rookie’ exists. I’m very supportive
of her and Rookie. If I see something I like on her blog or Rookie I try it
myself. Petra Collins’ crowns and Virgin Suicides room tutorial is a good
example.

It used to be, but I’m more into personal style than fashion. I
must say, Meadham Kirchhoff is brilliant so they are an exception.

Do films influence your work?

Movies are my favorite thing. Thumbsucker,
Amadeus, Candy and Dreamland are great. They influence my work on a certain
level. In blog posts I refer to movies a lot in my themes. Characters are
applied to my personal style and photography.

Another piece for the F Word, sorry for the repetition I had quite a few pieces floating around my computer that I neglected to publish! This piece was created in response to an article written on the question of sexual identity and abortion. I chose to adopt a seemingly 'naive' 'pre-teen'/'tween' style of drawing in order to reflect the pressure to conform to pre-formed ideas regarding sexual identity at such a young age. I extended this idea through the idea of paper dolls and dressing up. It was also I guess something of a reminder (mostly to myself I admit) that you don't need to reference x critical theorist and y art movement in order to passionately engage with issues at hand.

Here is another little piece of art I made for The F Word. This work is on the alienation of working class people from feminist dialogue. Its such an important topic and illustrates one of The F word's strengths, their ability to dissect all manner of privileges. For its so easy to be so wrapped up in critical theory and academia that you become completely disconnected from the very people you are meant to be working alongside. My piece may not seem to be tackling questions of class culture very directly. However, I was wary of falling into trite stereotypes, as a result I chose to work on more of an emotional level. The photograph is a family photo of me and my Mum when I was little. She was a young single mother who raised me on benefits so I felt locating this photograph at the heart of the piece worked nicely. My selection of colours are also chosen to reflect questions of class identity and alienation. For instance to the left I created an abstract interpretation of the Oxford University crest and on the right a similar interpretation of the Cambridge University crest can be seen. This was chosen to illustrate the insidious manner in which the 'educated' minority voices dominate feminist dialogue.

A little piece of writing I wrote for
stigma zine #2 on the stigma of being seen as 'ugly':

In a cissexist patriarchal society it is
inevitable that our bodies are our first big disappointments. We live in a
digital landscape that is defined by images, thus to be seen as ugly is to be
part of the undead. For if a person cannot be held static in image form they
are rendered invisible. We are the faceless majority that needs to reclaim the
act of image making and image taking in order to find our own identities.

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

An essay I wrote for my pop culture elective in uni on the Twilight series, I thought it might be of interest.Side note: I'm not anti-Mormon as that would be gross and bigoted! Mormonism (like any other faith really can be misused and misrepresented so we should not take Twilight as an accurate representation of Mormonism or anything else really!) I'm not anti-Twilight either for that matter I just think it's a fun topic to write about.

“I was not beautiful and probably looked closer to a zombie” : The Othering and abjection of Bella Swan in Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ series

“The vampire is a voraciously
sexual woman, and a hyper-sexual African, a hypnotic Jewish invader, an effeminate
or homosexual man. The vampires of the West exist to frighten us into
acquiescence, to reassert patriarchy, racial supremacy, family values and
chaste heterosexuality.”[1]

-Milly Williamson

“Am I the only one who has to get old? I get older every stinking day!”[2]

-Bella Swan

The figure of the vampire has been
traditionally used to embody the fear of the Other, presenting the viewer with
an abject figure that challenges the fixed boundaries of hetero-normative and
patriarchal ideals.[3]
Stephanie Meyer’s teen vampire romance series ‘Twilight’ conforms to this
notion of enforcing patriarchal values through fear of Otherness. Yet, in
Meyer’s work, a crucial twist in the conventional vampire narrative can be
found. For it can be seen that ‘Twilight’ reverses the traditional positioning
of the vampire. This can be seen in her choice to present the character of the male
vampire, Edward Cullen, and his patriarchal vampire family, as the
hetero-normative ideal,[4]
and, instead, portraying the protagonist, the human teenage girl, Bella Swan,
as the Other. This can be identified in the positioning of the mortal Bella as
the corpse, who in direct contrast to the immortal Edward, is in a constant state
of ageing and decay.[5] To
understand the significance of Bella as corpse it is necessary to refer to
Julia Kristeva’s critical writing on the subject of abjection and Barbra Kreed’s
notion of ‘the monstrous-feminine’. It is also appropriate to refer to Naomi
Wolf’s ‘The Beauty Myth’ to position the themes of male and female beauty,
ageing and abjection in the realms of contemporary feminist discourse. The
focus of this essay is chiefly the four novels that make up Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’
series (‘Twilight’, ‘New Moon’, ‘Eclipse’, ‘Breaking Dawn’). However, an
understanding of the resulting film adaptations of the ‘Twilight’ series may
aid a reader’s critical understanding of this essay. In any critical work it is
an egregious oversight to consider a work as ideologically neutral. Thus it is
necessary to situate the ‘Twilight’ series in the context of Meyer’s Mormonist
ideology.[6] As
this essay is centred on the theme of gender, Mormon beliefs surrounding
patriarchy[7]
and heteronormativity[8]
are critically important when dissecting the politics of Othering and
abjection.

The positioning of Bella as Other
to Edward is clearly established from the beginning of the ‘Twilight’ series.
Reflecting on her first conversation with Edward, Bella notes, “I was well
aware that my league and his league were spheres that did not touch.”[9]
Meyer’s choice of the word ‘spheres’ is critically important, invoking the
Victorian idea, introduced by social philosophers, such as John Ruskin, that
men and women operate in ‘separate spheres’.[10] This
also supports feminist interpretations of the text, such as the feminist writer
Lauren Rocha, who has criticised the work as a return to a Conservative
Victorian standard of gender roles.[11] Thus
in understanding Meyer’s use of gendered Othering it would be appropriate to consider
Bella as sign value for woman and Edward for man.

For the figure of Bella, as sign
value for woman, takes on an abject state of exaggerated proportions. Bella,
the sole mortal female main character, becomes a vessel to embody all that is
repulsive in the living female form. Bella as woman is the indecent temptress:
provoking the saintly Edward’s bloodlust,[12]
she is the visceral state of pregnancy: swollen and sickly,[13]
the ageing woman, unlovable in her decaying features[14]
and, finally, following childbirth, the literal
corpse lying broken and bloody on the surgeon’s table;[15] and
all of this from a character that does not pass the age of eighteen. In this
respect Bella is a blank canvas for Meyer to paint her patriarchal ideology.
Bella Swan may simultaneously lactate, menstruate and rot as a reminder of the
abject state of womanhood. Thus Swan operates as a visceral reminder that it
was Eve, not Adam, who brought forward original sin onto this earth.

To understand this abject state of
womanhood it is necessary to consider the critical theorist Julia Kristeva’s
writing on abjection. Kristeva argues that abjection lies in the body that
disturbs the system’s orders, that ignores the invisible boundaries drawn out
by the ruling ideology.[16]
The abject body in the vampire narrative is conventionally attributed to the
vampire itself. Vampire figures such as Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’[17]
(1897) and the character of Count Orlok in ‘Nosferatu’[18]
(1922) defile the boundaries of man and animal, living and dead.[19]
For the horror of the vampire reflects the horror the corpse, for the corpse,
defined by Kristeva, is the utmost in abjection.[20] Yet
in Edward Cullen and his ‘vegetarian’[21] vampire
family we find the very opposite. Whether enjoying the “great American past
time”[22]
of baseball or throwing graduation parties in their “beautiful home”[23]
the Cullens operate as a utopian model of the white American patriarchy. This
can be understood further through the body of Edward Cullen, who, in his fixed
state of eternal youth and heteronormative masculinity, breaks no boundaries. For
the body that is youthful is located furthest away from the corpse. Thus Edward
who remains a teenage boy for all eternity may epitomise all that is pure and
good in this world. For the vampire family, the Cullens, do not operate as a
gruesome reminder of death, instead they offer salvation from it.[24] However,
it can be seen that in utilising the vampire body as the boundary keepers
rather the boundary breakers the same effect is still achieved. For the concept
of the abject body is still being manipulated to enforce Meyer’s patriarchal ideology. It is simply the human figure of Bella, instead of the
vampire Edward, which has taken on this role.

In understanding the abjection of
Bella it is appropriate to consider the cultural critic Barbara Kreed’s notion
of ‘the monstrous-feminine’. In this work Kreed argues that feelings of horror
lie intrinsically within the female form.[25] Thus
in dissecting the character of Bella Swan it is appropriate to consider Swan as
a “female monster”,[26]
in the same manner as Kreed’s studies of Carrie[27]
(‘Carrie’ 1976) or Regan[28]
(‘The Exorcist’ 1973). This theory can be understood through the use of Bella
Swan as vehicle for the, traditionally ‘monstrous’, theme of ‘body horror’.[29]
This is a point most evident in the gratuitous nature of the birth scene in
‘Breaking Dawn’. For example, in a notably visceral scene prior to the birth,
Meyer chooses for Bella’s back to break and then for her to vomit a fountain of
blood. The exaggerated sense of horror and melodrama employed in this scene
reflects the rigid sense of boundary keeping between male and female that the
author so ardently employs in her work. This is evident in the fact that the
powers of horror described in this scene are carefully confined to the woman,
through Meyer’s concentration on the monstrous portrait of motherhood. For the maternal
body is regarded by both Kreed and Kristeva as a state of life defined by its
abject nature.[30]

This concept of abjection and the
‘female monster’ is extended through Meyer likening Bella, not to the
patriarchal ideal of the vampire, but instead to the rancid corpse state of the
zombie. This again illustrates Meyer’s technique of appropriating and
manipulating existing horror narratives to conform to her ideology. Consider
this scene in New Moon, where Bella is reflecting on Edward’s impromptu departure.
Meyer writes:“not that I [Bella Swan] hadn’t dreamed of being a mythical
monster-once-just never a grotesque animated corpse.”[31] The
choice of words such as “grotesque” for zombie in contrast to “mythical” for
vampire is key, emphasing the Othered nature of woman to man. For it could be
argued that in the world of ‘Twilight’ the sign value of man as Edward and
woman as Bella can be extended further. For, in Meyer’s utilisation of abjection
and ‘the monstrous feminine’, we can also infer that man equals vampire and
woman equal zombie.

This positioning of Bella Swan as
Othered and abject through the idea of the corpse is first introduced in the
second book of the series, ‘New Moon’. The text opens with a nightmarish vision
of an aged Bella, corpse like, decaying and repulsive in her “ancient, creased
and withered”[32]
state. In the dream the figure of Bella as corpse is dramatically contrasted to
Edward who, despite being over a century old, remains “forever seventeen”.[33] Thus
in understanding the role of Bella as abject and corpse-like it is crucial to consider
the positioning of beauty within the ‘Twilight’ series. For Meyer locates the
currency of beauty, not in the woman, but in the male.[34] The
third wave feminist writer, Naomi Wolf, in her work, ‘The Beauty Myth’, argues
that images of female beauty operate as a political tool, brutally used against
women to counteract the advancements of women’s liberation through feminism.[35] Thus
on an artificial level it could appear that Meyer’s work, and the resulting
film series, through their emphasis on male beauty, take on a transgressive quality,
subverting the doctrine of patriarchy and pre-supposed gender roles rather than
rigidly enforcing them. The feminist critic, Bidisha, asserts this point
arguing that the figure of Edward Cullen acts as a “defiant
articulation of the female gaze and female desire…He is the object, she [Bella
Swan] the boyish beholder. "[36] However,
whilst the texts certainly may appease the desires of its pubescent audience,
its position as sexually liberating or subversive should be critically
contested. For male beauty’s chief role in the ‘Twilight’ saga is to assert the
abjection of the woman. A strong example of this can be found in ‘New Moon’. In
the following scene the writer is describing Bella’s emotions when looking at a
photograph of her and Edward. Meyer writes: “He looked like a god. I
looked very average, even for a human, almost shamefully plain. I flipped the
picture over with a feeling of disgust.”[37] This
scene acts as a strong example of how the writer alters the structure of Wolf’s
‘Beauty Myth’ whilst still creating the identical effect, the repression of
women through the idealised beauty of images. For the derogatory language of
“even for a human” can logically be interpreted as coded language for “even for
a woman” illustrating the Othered nature of the female within the ‘Twilight’
series.

The positioning of ‘The Beauty
Myth’ is clear in Meyer’s utilisation of what Wolf sees as the Western woman’s
“terror of ageing”.[38] In
utilising the dialogue of commercial Western beauty, alongside the
appropriation of the unsettling powers rooted in the horror genres, Meyer
produces a powerful effect. For in the ‘Twilight’ series the “terror of ageing”
is not restricted to the realms of high fashion and anti-ageing cosmetic
commercials. Instead it becomes a literal physical terror through the abjection
of the female corpse, the undead and the corpse being a popular trope in the
language of horror. The positioning of an ageing woman as corpse offers a
striking message to its teenaged readers. This is the message that an older
woman holds no value, that her intellect or character is not of interest.[39]
The older woman is a merely putrid shell, a shuffling corpse awaiting burial.
It is critical to emphasise that Bella’s “black event”[40]
is not her eightieth birthday but her eighteenth.
This again illustrates how Meyer’s ideological eye distorts the female form, transforming
a youthful teenage girl into an ageing monster. It is crucial to remember that Edward
in his immortal state does not lose ‘value’ with age, thus his immortality
takes on a potent symbolism of the unshakable positioning of patriarchal
supremacy.

Thus Wolf’s ‘Iron Maiden’[41]
model of beauty repression can be clearly applied to the ‘Twilight’ series. The
singular alteration to the Iron Maiden is that it is not images of female
beauty, but images of male beauty, that encloses the character of Bella Swan.In
this use of male beauty to fuel the abjection of women, Meyer critically breaks
away from the existing culture surrounding beautiful boys. There is a potent
irony in Meyer’s appropriation of a group rooted in queer sexuality,[42]
erotic taboos[43]
and the romantic desires of the older woman[44]
to fuel the ideas of the very opposite: the abject state of female sexuality,
the repulsive nature of the ageing woman and the enforcing of heteronormative
and patriarchal ideologies.

For in Meyer’s exaggerated sense of
gendered boundary keeping it is clear that she is creating the very opposite
effect, boundary breaking. For the
‘Twilight’ series breaks the traditions of the Gothic and vampire genre, as
well as the traditions of male beauty. This sense of literary boundary breaking
is most evident in Meyer situating the corpse-like figure of Bella Swan as
abject and monstrous. For the Gothic horror writer Edgar Allen Poe famously
declared that “the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most
poetical topic in the world.”[45] The
“beautiful corpse”[46] of Lucy in
Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ (1897) is another strong example of the female corpse
figure being intrinsically linked, not with abjection, but with beauty. Thus,
in conforming to Kristeva’s argument that abjection lies within the individual
that has no respect for boundaries or borders, it could be said that Meyer, in
her refusal to accept literary and cultural borders, is the abject one.

[3]“Vampires have
epitomized the fear of subversion of the social rules, representing in this
sense patterns of behavior to be avoided.” In: Fernanda Sousa Carvalho, ‘Breaking Codes of Sexuality: Angela
Carter’s Vampire Women’ (UFMG 2008) p.2

[6] Stephanie Meyer is a member of the Church of the
Latter Day Saints. She acknowledges the influence of her ideology on the text
stating: "I do think that because I'm a very
religious person, it does tend to come out somewhat in the books, although
always unconsciously.”

[7] Bruce. R McConkie, the church of the Latter Day Saints
Leader highlights this point. Stating: "A
woman's primary place is in the home, where she is to rear children and abide
by the righteous counsel of her husband"

[8] For more information on Mormonist attitudes towards
queerness in the 20th century see ‘Prologue:
An examination of the Mormon attitude towards homosexuality’. This highlights issues such as queer aversion
therapy and persecution of queer individuals within certain parts of the Mormon community.

[10]The notion of ‘separate
spheres’ holds further relevance due to Meyer’s Mormonistic ideology. Note the
historian Catherine Hall’s point that: “division between male and female worlds
had a religious connotation, for the marketplace was considered dangerously
amoral. The men who operated in that sphere could save themselves only through
constant contact with the moral world of the home, where women acted as
carriers of the pure values that could counteract the destructive tendencies of
the market"

Catherine Hall, ‘The Curtain Rises’ In: Phillipe Aries and Georges Duby,‘A History of the Private Life IV: From the
Fires of the Revolution to the Great War’ (Belknap Press 1987) p.74

[11] Lauren Rocha argues “in Twilight, the female is not shown as empowered, but
rather a regressive figure akin to the Victorian ideal of womanhood, creating a
backlash against the empowered feminist ideal.” In: Lauren Rocha, ‘Bite Me: Twilight Stakes Feminism’ In: The Undergraduate Review: A Journal of Undergraduate
Research and Creative Work (Bridgewater State University 2010-2011Volume VII)
p.148

[21] The Cullens are ‘vegetarian’ vampires in the sense
that they abstain from human blood feasting only on the blood of animals. This
highlights Meyer’s emphasis on controlling ones urges and abstaining from
‘sinful’ vices.

[24] This idea is projected through the behaviour of
Carlisle (the vampire father figure). Carlisle changes humans to vampires only
if they are on the brink of death. They then join the Cullen family. The
characters of Edward Cullen, Esme Cullen, Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale were
all transformed by Carlisle into vampires when at the brink of death.

[34] There is a definite sense of melodrama and
exaggeration in the description of Edward’s beauty, thus polarising the male
and female further. Consider this quote: “I couldn’t imagine how an angel could
be any more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon.”
Thus Edward goes beyond mere beauty and moves into the realms of angelic
perfection.

In: Stephanie Meyer, ‘Twilight’ (ATOM 2006) p. 212

[35]“We are in the midst of a violent backlash against
feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against
women’s advancement.”

Naomi Wolf, ‘The Beauty Myth’ (Vintage Books 1990) p. 10

[36]Bidisha, ‘Bitten by the
female gaze’, The Guardian, (Monday 19
January 2009)

[41]Naomi Wolf applied the concept of the Iron Maiden (a
medieval German instrument of torture) to the beauty industry. Just like the
original Iron Maiden slowly encloses its victims, Wolf feels that contemporary
Western women are similarly trapped in the rigid cruel nature of beauty.

Naomi Wolf, ‘The Beauty Myth’ (Vintage Books 1990) p.17

[42] An example of this can be found in the Spartan prince Hyacinth. He was first pursued by the
poet Thamyris, and such was his beauty the writer invented same sex copulation
invention just for him.